Daniel Cormier plans successful title defense in Houston

As a kid growing up in Lafayette, Daniel Cormier’s family could not afford lavish vacations.

Instead, they would pile in the car and drive four hours down I-10 to Houston. Disney World wasn’t an option, so they did the next best thing: they went to AstroWorld.

These days, Cormier is the UFC’s light heavyweight champion and can afford any kind of vacation he wants. Astroworld is merely a memory, a dusty field across the highway from the derelict Astrodome. But Cormier still has a special place in his heart for Houston. He is a diehard Rockets fan who lit up like a kid when he met James Harden and Dwight Howard in 2013.

Houston feels familiar and it feels like home, which is why he is thrilled to be returning here to defend his championship.

He faces Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of UFC 192 on October 3 at the Toyota Center. It is the UFC’s fourth trip to Houston; the previous three events sold out quickly.

In April, former title holder Jon Jones was involved in a hit and run incident in Albuquerque. He was stripped of the belt and suspended indefinitely, and Cormier—who lost by unanimous decision to Jones in January—was tabbed to face Anthony Johnson on short notice to crown a new champion.

Cormier dispatched Johnson fairly easily, and the backlash began pouring in from fans who believed Cormier wasn’t the real champion because he’d never beaten Jones.

“I didn’t put Jon in that car. I didn’t make him run into that woman. I didn’t make him make those bad decisions. He did all that on his own, and now he’s paying the consequences for it,” Cormier said. “You have to be accountable for your actions. And the UFC is holding him accountable for his actions. When he’s ready to come back, and the legal system has run its course, he will be right back around the top of the division where he’s always been.”

When Cormier beat Johnson, he did so after coming off the loss to Jones, which only gave his critics more ammunition. Gustafsson is also coming off a loss in his last fight, but Cormier adamantly believes he deserves the shot.

“It should be based on his career, not just his last fight. It’s not only about your last performance,” he said. “What he has done over the course of his career warrants a title fight, and that’s why he’s getting it. He deserves this shot.”

Gustafsson said that he never expected to receive another title shot this quickly, especially after his loss earlier this year.

“But I’m very excited for it. It’s another opportunity, so I’m going to make the best of it,” he said. “I’m super pumped for this fight.”

The matchup is the kind of classic style vs. style bout that mixed martial arts is known for. Cormier, a former member of the United States Olympic team, is one of the best wrestlers in the sport, while the long and rangy Gustafsson excels in striking.

But Cormier has developed a lethal striking game of his own, and said he plans on using it in front of his friends and family in Houston.

“Even the greatest strikers turn into wrestlers when I stand in front of them,” he said. “I’m going to stand in front of him and knock him out.”